By Myke Uzendu, Abuja
Following the recent disclosure by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that it is ready to commence electronic voting, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has charged the Commission to transmit the 2023 election results electronically from the polling units to it’s central server.
PDP predicated it’s position also on the recent announcement by INEC of its readiness to conduct online (electronic) registration of voters for future elections in the country.
The PDP in a statement on Tuesday signed by it’s National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan stressed that since INEC can deploy technology to conduct online registration of voters, which entails electronic transmission of voter’s data to its central server, the commission can as well conduct an electronic transmission of results directly from the polling unit to its central server.
The party maintained that the commission no longer has any excuse not to transmit results electronically from polling units, which will ensure credible elections. It said that “the process will further eliminate manipulations, alterations, switching and disappearance of election results during manual collation processes”.
It argued that if INEC can use the electronic platform for registration of voters it could as well deploys the same technology for electronic transmission of results in future elections including the 2023 general elections.
The party urged INEC to ensure that the online registration of voters is credible, transparent and not open to the manipulations of desperate politicians, particularly in the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The PDP also called on the APC leadership in the National Assembly to know that it has no further reason for continuing to sit on the Electoral Act amendment bill and frustrate genuine effort to ensure credible, free and fair elections in the country.
The opposition party stressed that “the only reason the APC-led administration as well as the APC leadership in the National Assembly have been using every available means to frustrate the electronic transmission of result, is that they have realized that there is no way their party can win in a transparent, free and fair election at any level in Nigeria.
“We therefore urge Nigerians to intensify their efforts in the collective quest to rescue our country from misrule by adding their voices to the demand by our party for electronic transmission of results in future elections and particularly, the 2023 general elections”.
The electoral body kick started the trial of electronic transmission of election results from polling units in both the Nasarawa State Assembly bye election, as well as Edo and Ondo states governorship election in 2020 with it’s newest technology known as Z-pad.
